Snap-fastener.



A. HOLSTEIN.

SNAP FASTENER.

AvPucAnoN man sEP1.11.1915.

1139215., rammed J`u1y10,.1917.

A TTORNEYS ALEXANDER HOLSTEIN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SNAP-FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 10, 1917.

Appli-cation led September 11, 1915. Serial No. 50,117.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER HOLSTEIN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Snap-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

Among the principal objects of my invention are to provide a snap fastener for use in connection with articles of wearing apparel and other similar purposes, which shall be simple in construction and which may be manufactured at a low cost, and in which the socket member shall be composed wholly of suitable wire; and to provide a snap fastener which shall serve when in operation to securely unite the various plies of fabric or other material in connection with which it may be used, and which shall permit of the ready separation of the members of the fastener when it is desired to separate the plies to which they may beattached.

A further object of my invention is to provide a snap fastenerV having the foregoing characteristics which may, if desired, be readily sewed or otherwise attached to the fabric by machinery, thus materially reducing the cost of the garment in connection with which it may be utilized.

Still further objects of my invention are to provide a snap fastener which shall not be liable to get out of order or to be damaged when in use in such manner as to materially affect the proper operation vof the fastener. Y

My invention further includes all of the other various novel objects and Yfeatures of construction and arrangement hereinafter more definitely specified.

In the accompanying drawing is illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 being a top plan view of the snap fastener in assembled or operative position; Fig.4 2 a plan view of the stud member of the fastener in position upon a piece of fabric; Fig. 3 a plan view of the socket member of the fastener also in position on a piece of fabric, and Fig. t a central vertical section of the fastener with the members thereof respectively attached to p two pieces of fabric and serving to vhold the same together, certain parts of the device in this figure being shown in elevation for the sake of clearness.

i Referring now to that embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing, the same may comprise a socket or spring member 1, and a plate or stud member 2, which latter may consist of a plate 3 of any suitable or desired form provided approximately at its center with an outwardly projecting stud or ball Ihaving the head 5 surmounting the neck 6 which is of somewhat smaller diameter than the head and forms a connection between the head and the plate in a manner well-known to those familiar with the art. In practice I prefer to form the plate 3 of substantially oblong shape with rounded corners and to provide the same with transverse, inwardly extending slots or indentations 7 adjacent each end for the reception of the thread 9 which may be passed over those portions of the plate lying between the ends ofthe slots to secure the plate to the fabric 10. As a plate formed in this manner may be readily sewed to the fabric by a certain class of sewing machinery utilized in the manufacture of clothing, the cost of attaching the fastener is thereby greatly lessened in comparison with the cost of doing the work by hand, while the relatively extended surface of the plate in contact with the fabric serves to steady the same vthereon and t0 assist the thread in securely maintaining it in position.

'Ihe socket or spring member 1 of the fastener, is preferably formed from a single continuous piece of wire having a certain amount of inherent resiliency, and I find that wire having properties substantially similar to the wire used in the manufacture of hooks and eyes is well adapted for the purpose. In forming the socket member the wire, for example beginning at the point 15,

is bent to lform the substantially circular loop or eye 16, is then directed longitudinally for a short distance, then divergedy V23 adjacent the point 15.

thence directed longitudinally backwardly and beneath the transverse portion, then out and in at 2O to correspond with the bend 17 again directed longitudinally, then` bent to form loop or eye 21, and thereafter crossed over the longitudinal portions of the wire adjacent eyes 16 and 21, and terminated at Of course if desired, the steps in the operation of bending th'e'wire to form the socket member, may be carriedout in reverse order from that described; that is, by beginning at point 23 and ending at point 15.

' It Vwill'be evident that by bending the wire as just described, a socket member will be formed substantially oblong in planular.

Youtlinenand presenting a plurality of atl-tachingyeyes or loops, one adjacent each corner, and that preferably midway between thefends ofthe socket member an opening 25 will be defined rbetween the two longitu-Y k dinally extendingportionsof the wire, the ,Y normal diameter of the openingbeing preferably substantially equal to that `of the neck 6 of the stud. I prefer to so direct the wire in formingthe socket member that thevopening 25 shall be of substantially circular configuration so as to properly engage the neck of the stud when the latter, as

is usual, is of cylindrical, or approximately cylindrical, form, but, of course, should it be desired to Vutilize some other form of A stud or neckthe shape of the opening should beso modied as to be adapted for suitable engagement therewith. Y

-The socket membery may preferably be secured to the fabric 27 in an inverted posiy tion from that shown in Fig. 1 by suitable stitching 28- extendingroverthe portions of the wirerdefining the loops and through f the'loops orY eyes 16, ,18, .19` and 21V themselves, so thatrthe transversely extending Y portions of the wire will, as clearly shown in Figu, lie next tothe surface of the fabric, although in certaincasesit may be desirable to, attach the socket member to the fabric vin reverse position. Owing.` t0 the Y v` configuration of the loops or` eyes',` the socket v member may be readily attached to [the fabric byll "means of `suitable Y sewing machines or the like as hitherto described in connection with the stud member, thus l'greatly facilitating this operation and reducing the cost'thereof, the generally Yob-V long contour ofthesocket member assisting sin securely vpositioning itk on,` the material andntending to prevent its Vdispluement thereonafter its attach/ment thereto.Y t Y 'y When it isdesired.V to unitethe separate Tpiecesof material v`to YWhich the v'plate memberpandrsoeket member are respectively attached as heretofore described, thestudlof j thelrformer is'fforced through the opening 25V inthe-latter, the longitudinal portions yf the wire forming Y the socket '4 member springing or giving apart suiiiciently to permit the larger portion of the stud to pass through the opening, after which the wires again contract to normal position and snugly surround the neck 6 of the stud. The plate member will thus be securely held in l operative connection with the socket member, and the respective pieces of material to which the members are attached similarly secured together, until the members of the fastener are pulled apart with suiicient force to cause the longitudinal wires to again spring apart to permit the passage of the enlarged portion of the stud.

While I have described with considerable particularity a preferred method of bending the wire to form the socket member, I do not desirev to limit myself solely thereto, as it will be evident that other methods depending, for example, upon the type or style of bending machine employed to form the socket member may be utilized as desired; and further, that the shape of the latter may be modified and the number of loops or eyes employed increased or decreased, and that other changes and modiiications may be made in lthe details of the members composing the fastener without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. A stud-receiving socket formed of a single piece of wire bent to provide two pairs of oppositely disposed eyes, oppositely bowed stud-engaging sections located intermediate the pairs of eyes and constituting a stud-receiving loop, and a pair of spaced cross bars extending beneath transversely of the bowed stud-engaging sections at opposite ends of the loop, whereby said bars actas stops to prevent a stud from passing through said ends of the loop.

2.V A stud-receiving socket formed Afrom a single piece of wire bent to form aY pair of substantially parallel cross bars, a pair 0f eyes at each cross bar, and an intermediate bowed section forming a stud-receiving loop over-lying the spaced parallel cross bars, said ,cross bars being adapted to contact with an inserted stud 'and to retain such stud, against ,lateral displacement through the ends 0f4 the loop.

A st`ud-receivingl socket formed of a single piece ofjwire bent to define a plurality of oppositely disposed oppositelyjbowedstud engaging' sections located intermediate the attaching eyes and forming a stud-receiving loop and a section extending transversely of said stud engaging sections and'forming a stop to prevent lateral displacement of a stud inserted in said loop. t

LA stud-receiving socket formed of a attaching eyes,

single piece of wire bent to define two pair forming a stop adapted to limit theendwise of oppositely disposed attaching eyes, a movement of a stud inserted in said socket. pair of oppositely disposed longitudinally In witness whereof, I have hereunto set 1o extending bowed sections forming a studmy hand this ninth day of September, A. D.

5 receiving socket located intermediate of 1915.

said pairs of eyes, and a section extending transversely of said bowed sections and ALEXANDER HOLSTEIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for iive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, .'D. G. 

